Ravichandran Ashwin and Trent Boult provide balance for Rajasthan Royals

Shimron Hetmyer, Devdutt Padikkal, Prasidh Krishna and Yuzvendra Chahal all arrive on the opening day of bidding

Rajasthan Royals prioritised balance after picking up Trent Boult, Ravichandran Ashwin and Shimron Hetmyer in the IPL mega auction.

Having kept Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal from last season it was clear where they need to improve.

The Royals moved as early as the opening round, adding Ravichandran Ashwin for 5 crore (£489,120) after pipping Delhi Capitals.

And that wasn't the end of their business in the marquee set as Trent Boult was prised away from another former side Mumbai Indians for 8 crore (£782,588).

They may reflect on having overpaid for Shimron Hetmyer, who arrives at 8.5 crore (£757,480) but Devdutt Padikkal might end up being a good value at 7.75 crore (£692,102).

Deep pockets were required to sign up quick Prasidh Krishna for 10 crore (£978,236).

One of the deals of the day came in the spinners category, with Royals outbidding Mumbai Indians for Yuzvendra Chahal.

Late moves were then struck for Riyan Parag (3.8 crore) and mystery spinner KC Cariappa (30 lakhs, £29,347).

^{Shimron Hetmyer will add power to the middle order (INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP/Getty Images)}

Royals had a clear strategy from the outset and landed their premier targets before being able to bid with a degree of freedom for much of the auction.

Notable offers were made for Jason Holder, Deepak Hooda, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rahul Chahar, without success, but they can reflect on an otherwise encouraging day.

Owner Manoj Badalesaid: “We’ve got a gun batting line-up now.

“We liked Padikkal because he plays spin particularly well and fills that number-three slot with Sanju [Samson] batting four this year. 

"Hetmyer is a player that we’ve admired for many many years, and he has that real ability to play pace and spin at the back of the innings.

He added: “Pretty pleased with Ashwin. We were expecting him to go for a lot more than that.”

Rajasthan Royals

R Ashwin, Trent Boult, Shimron Hetmyer, Devdutt Padikkal, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Riyan Parag, KC Cariappa